PLACENTIA, CA — Graphco and Print & Finishing Solutions, two of the largest graphic arts providers in North America, will participate jointly as Sponsors at the 56th Association of College and University Printers (ACUP+) Annual Conference to be held in Vancouver, WA. This event, which brings together the top leaders in higher education in-plant printing and mailing management, will be held on April 3-7, 2022, at the Vancouver Hilton.

“We are thrilled to support the first in-person ACUP+ Conference in three years,” states Kian Hemmen, Director of Sales, Print & Finishing Solutions. “We are pleased to partner with Graphco at ACUP+ since we share the same vision of college and university printers as the most important communication department within these vital institutions.”

“The ACUP+ conference will cover topics relevant to the printing and mailing industry, including offset and digital printing, wide format, prepress, finishing, and the latest in hardware and software offerings,” states Chris Manley, President, Graphco. “Both Graphco and PFS are uniquely positioned to provide this range of solutions for colleges and universities in our regions.”

Offset print continues its resurgence in the print operations of higher education in-plants. “The University of Missouri is a great example of a higher education in-plant printing operation that chose RMGT and relies on LED-UV cured offset as the most cost-effective way to manufacture print,” states Manley. “Mizzou joins fellow SEC member, University of Alabama, and the Big Ten’s Penn State as in-plants who all use RMGT technology to communicate with their students, faculty, alumni and also prospective students.”

Direct mail always plays a key role in student recruitment. As budgets have been stretched due to covid compliance and lower on-campus revenue generation, the advantages of offset produced direct mail has come back strong. “Universities nationwide are returning to their traditional communication methods,” says Manley. “An offset printed postcard or approach piece that is inkjet addressed costs far less than any digital production method. RMGT offers the lowest total cost to print on the market. We will be at ACUP+ to engage in dialog with participants who are keen to bring this approach to their operation.”

Higher education in-plants face many of the same challenges as commercial printers in North America. “Whether you are looking at prepress, digital and offset printing, or finishing, tight labor markets require in-plants to produce print at the highest speed and as few touches as possible,” adds Hemmen. “We look forward to bringing our solution set to the conference.”

In addition to RMGT offset presses, both Graphco and PFS import other high-end products including state-of-the-art laminators from Foliant and top-of-the-class ItoTec Paper Cutters. These products help support the other commercial and digital finishing products that they both support.

“As labor shortages, supply challenges and increasing costs of operations impact their operations, digital print and automated finishing is something that we see a need for in universities and colleges across the US,” observes Hemmen. “PFS and Graphco are poised to help reduce these challenges by labor and cost-saving options that also provide best-in-class print quality so the projects stand out.”

The 2022 ACUP+ Conference features three days of educational sessions, robust roundtable discussions and includes an interactive vendor exhibit hall. For more information on the event, including registration information, visit http://www.acup-edu.org/2022conference.